Remote Working, the ‘New Normal’ | CommonGrounds Workplace

emote Working is the New Normal – Are you Prepared?

As a flexible office operator, we live and breathe remote working and how to support it on a daily basis for our members and our own teams. For many, this seems to be the ‘new normal’ but the remote working trend has seen tremendous growth over the last decade. For both U.S. and global markets, there were no indications of stopping prior to COVID-19. In fact, we think that this trend will continue long-after our current situation.

Remote working is still a very new and foreign practice to many managers and business owners. With the advent of COVID-19, there has been a monumental increase in remote working with many businesses that are trying to figure it out quickly.

Is Remote Working Effective? Both businesses and employees alike claim an increase in functionality and productivity when working in remote locations. According to an extensive report from International Workplace Group (IWG), the study found that, of the businesses who took part in the survey, 89% of them reported an increase in productivity as a result of greater workplace flexibility. Additionally, a California-based software company named CoSo Cloud conducted an independent study that found 77% of remote employees declared themselves to be more productive at home. They also found that 23% of remote employees would work longer hours than they would on-site.

Remote working allows companies to hire the best and brightest talent available country-wide while also being able to cut down on costs; such as not needing to move newly hired personnel across the country. Remote working also removes the need for commuting, which many businesses subsidize. Mondo, a digital staffing agency, found that employees working from home, especially in busy cities such as San Francisco, Boston, or New York, report that they add an additional six to 15 hours to their workweek due to eliminating daily commute times.

How Remote Working Has Grown. Remote working has been gaining popularity since the mid-2000s. Thanks to a collaboration between Flexjobs and GWA (Global Workplace Analytics), a report found that remote work has increased 159% in the 12 years and 44% in the last 5 years. Owl Labs reported that, in 2020, 62% of employees between the ages of 22 and 65 work remotely at least once a week.

This number will likely continue to climb due to the COVID-19 outbreak across the U.S. As early as March 6th, tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook asked staff in Washington state to work from home, with Facebook alone accounting for over 5,000 of those employees. With work from home mandates in many cities for non-essential job categories, the temporary growth is astounding.

How Remote Workers Can Be Supported in 2020 With the increase in remote working in 2020, companies may begin to see the benefits of this work practice, and consequently some cons too. CoSo Cloud’s survey also found that over half of remote workers say they feel disconnected from the rest of the in-office employees. Buffer, a social media software company, found that 22% of remote employees find it difficult to disconnect after the workday is finished, and 19% of remote employees report that loneliness is one of their biggest challenges.

While remote working grows into our ‘new normal’, the inherent obstacles of isolation in some employees must be addressed by the business in a meaningful and unique way. In the continuation of our series on remote working, we share four ways that work-from-home employees can be supported in a remote situation. Areas that can have a meaningful impact immediately.

From cloud storage of files and assets, to video conferencing, myriad technologies are available to keep employees connected and working efficiently. The simple act of turning on a webcam to talk face-to-face can help improve communication, expedite collaboration and elevate mood.

The wellbeing of your coworkers and staff is essential. Look at the ways in which you connect with your team and continue to foster relationships in a remote working environment. Bring in experts to talk with your team virtually on health and wellness.

CommonGrounds’ tech team is conducting in-depth research to evaluate all the market has to offer, as well as best practices to ensure success. Our research is focused on project management to keep deadlines and projects on track.

We are engaging with authors and leaders of companies (big and small) on what makes them successful, how they are building their teams, and strategies such as Heather Younger’s Intuitive Laws of Employee Loyalty.

Don’t miss our follow-up articles on remote working. In this time of change, we are here to support our members, companies of all sizes, and our own staff.